Fame Ballot

Former USC football stars Tony Boselli, Mark Carrier and Keyshawn Johnson are among players on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame, it was announced Thursday. The three are among 75 players and six coaches from major college programs on the ballot. The 2014 class will be announced in May. Boselli, an offensive tackle, won All-America recognition in 1992 and 1994. He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the second pick in the 1995 NFL draft. Carrier also was a two-time All-American and won the Thorpe Award as college football's top defensive back in 1989.

Former USC football stars Tony Boselli, Mark Carrier and Keyshawn Johnson are among players on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame, it was announced Thursday. The three are among 75 players and six coaches from major college programs on the ballot. The 2014 class will be announced in May. Boselli, an offensive tackle, won All-America recognition in 1992 and 1994. He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the second pick in the 1995 NFL draft. Carrier also was a two-time All-American and won the Thorpe Award as college football's top defensive back in 1989.

What if the Hall of Fame held an induction ceremony and no one came? That was painfully close to the truth last July, after the Baseball Writers Assn. of America rejected all the players presented for election. There were three inductees, selected by a separate committee to represent the pre-integration era, but each of those inductees had been dead for at least 74 years. When induction day arrived, the Hall of Fame generously estimated the crowd at 2,000 -- about one-tenth the usual number.

I am both puzzled and annoyed by a remark made in Allan Malamud's Dec. 14 column. He said that if Bart Giamatti had been commissioner in Ty Cobb's time, Cobb would have been kept off the Hall of Fame ballot. There are several things wrong with this statement. Even if Ty Cobb was a rotten human being, he still did more for ex-players than Marvin Miller and Don Fehr combined--which should tell you something about Miller and Fehr. For all his faults, Cobb never broke the rules the way Pete Rose did, and he never sued the commissioner to avoid punishment.

Are you ready for some football? OK, but how about Wednesday night football? The NFL's 2012 season-opening kickoff game will be played Wednesday, Sept. 5, to avoid conflicting with President Obama's Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention. As is tradition, the defending Super Bowl champion will host the game, meaning that the New York Giants will be playing at MetLife Stadium. The opponent has not been announced. The game will be televised on NBC, starting at 5:30 p.m. PT. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced at the Super Bowl that Thursday night games will be a weekly staple this season, mostly on the NFL Network, and that every team will appear in prime time at least once.

I thank the L.A. Times and Roger Kahn for the commentary on Gil Hodges [May 26]. I wonder why this argument wasn't made in 1983, the last year Hodges was eligible on the Hall of Fame ballot. Once Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez went in, Hodges should have gotten an automatic pass (like Tom Lasorda). I have never been to Cooperstown but would love to go see Hodges' plaque there. Raul Sanchez Whittier Kahn is right on target in his position that Hodges should be enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame.

Poor Pete Rose. He's 68, as one-dimensional as ever and still paying for mistakes he made in 1987, when his running buddies were Tommy Gioiosa, Paul Janszen and Ron Peters, who wouldn't have survived three episodes on "the Sopranos." The 20-year anniversary of Rose's lifetime ban is approaching, and there's no end in sight, despite moments of false hope. One of those came Monday. Rose, now a West Coast guy, awoke to reports in the New York Daily News that Hank Aaron and other unnamed Hall of Fame members had been lobbying Commissioner Bud Selig for a favorable ruling on Rose's application for reinstatement, filed in 1997.

NFL ELECTION SCORECARD Led by a massive upset by the Cardinals, the NFL went 5-1-1 on election Tuesday--and undefeated on the mainland. A look at the final tabulations, no recount required: * Arizona Cardinals: Win. An amazing 72 hours for the Cardinals. On Sunday, they swindled the Washington Redskins, 16-15.

What if the Hall of Fame held an induction ceremony and no one came? That was painfully close to the truth last July, after the Baseball Writers Assn. of America rejected all the players presented for election. There were three inductees, selected by a separate committee to represent the pre-integration era, but each of those inductees had been dead for at least 74 years. When induction day arrived, the Hall of Fame generously estimated the crowd at 2,000 -- about one-tenth the usual number.

Are you ready for some football? OK, but how about Wednesday night football? The NFL's 2012 season-opening kickoff game will be played Wednesday, Sept. 5, to avoid conflicting with President Obama's Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention. As is tradition, the defending Super Bowl champion will host the game, meaning that the New York Giants will be playing at MetLife Stadium. The opponent has not been announced. The game will be televised on NBC, starting at 5:30 p.m. PT. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced at the Super Bowl that Thursday night games will be a weekly staple this season, mostly on the NFL Network, and that every team will appear in prime time at least once.

Poor Pete Rose. He's 68, as one-dimensional as ever and still paying for mistakes he made in 1987, when his running buddies were Tommy Gioiosa, Paul Janszen and Ron Peters, who wouldn't have survived three episodes on "the Sopranos." The 20-year anniversary of Rose's lifetime ban is approaching, and there's no end in sight, despite moments of false hope. One of those came Monday. Rose, now a West Coast guy, awoke to reports in the New York Daily News that Hank Aaron and other unnamed Hall of Fame members had been lobbying Commissioner Bud Selig for a favorable ruling on Rose's application for reinstatement, filed in 1997.

I thank the L.A. Times and Roger Kahn for the commentary on Gil Hodges [May 26]. I wonder why this argument wasn't made in 1983, the last year Hodges was eligible on the Hall of Fame ballot. Once Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez went in, Hodges should have gotten an automatic pass (like Tom Lasorda). I have never been to Cooperstown but would love to go see Hodges' plaque there. Raul Sanchez Whittier Kahn is right on target in his position that Hodges should be enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame.

NFL ELECTION SCORECARD Led by a massive upset by the Cardinals, the NFL went 5-1-1 on election Tuesday--and undefeated on the mainland. A look at the final tabulations, no recount required: * Arizona Cardinals: Win. An amazing 72 hours for the Cardinals. On Sunday, they swindled the Washington Redskins, 16-15.

Trainer Wayne Lukas, jockey Russell Baze, 1992 horse of the year A.P. Indy and three exceptional fillies are on this year's Racing Hall of Fame ballot. Results of voting by 130 turf writers, broadcasters and racing historians in five categories will be announced in Louisville the last week of April, a few days before the Kentucky Derby. The two other trainers on the ballot--Richard Mandella and Neil Drysdale--are also California based. All three made the ballot in the first year of eligibility.

The four jockeys who finished behind Pat Day in voting a year ago, plus American-British standout Steve Cauthen, are on the ballot for this year's Racing Hall of Fame election. Pat Day was voted into the Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., last year in a ballot that also included Don Brumfield, Eddie Delahoussaye, Sandy Hawley and Jacinto Vasquez. Trainers on this year's ballot include Jimmy Croll, Tommy Kelly, Willard Proctor, Buddy Raines and Scotty Schulhofer.

Four active jockeys--Pat Day, Eddie Delahoussaye, Sandy Hawley and Jacinto Vasquez--and the retired Don Brumfield are on this year's ballot for the Racing Hall of Fame. There are four categories besides jockey, and the deadline for voting by 100 Hall of Fame panelists is April 1. The winners--one in each category--will be announced April 24, and induction ceremonies are scheduled for Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in August. The trainer candidates are Dale Baird, Jimmy Croll, Tom J.

The Racing Hall of Fame ballot came in the mail this week, without Winning Colors' name on it. Maybe the real ballot will be arriving soon. Otherwise, this is somebody's idea of an early April Fool's joke. Gary Stevens didn't make the ballot, either, in his first year of eligibility. Perhaps there's a bias that's linked to the 1988 Kentucky Derby. Stevens rode Winning Colors to victory in the race that year, and since 1979 his mounts have earned close to $120 million.

I am both puzzled and annoyed by a remark made in Allan Malamud's Dec. 14 column. He said that if Bart Giamatti had been commissioner in Ty Cobb's time, Cobb would have been kept off the Hall of Fame ballot. There are several things wrong with this statement. Even if Ty Cobb was a rotten human being, he still did more for ex-players than Marvin Miller and Don Fehr combined--which should tell you something about Miller and Fehr. For all his faults, Cobb never broke the rules the way Pete Rose did, and he never sued the commissioner to avoid punishment.